The invention relates to fungicides and more particularly to fungicides for the inhibition of fungal growth on fish eggs and young fry during the hatching of fish.
A serious problem in commercial fish hatcheries and in the breeding of tropical and cold water fish by hobbyists is control of fungus. The eggs and young fry are very susceptible to fungus, including Saprolegnia, which very rapidly spreads from diseased eggs to healthy fertile eggs and developing embryos. Manual removal of diseased eggs is one method of fungal control but is difficult to perform. Treating eggs in sea water is another method but requires that the fish can survive in salt water and is usually only partly effective. The most common method is the use of antifungal chemicals or fungicides, the most common of which are methylene blue, malachite green, and acriflavin. These methods are frequently ineffective or only partially effective in preventing the growth of various types of fungus in fish eggs. Some chemicals, e.g., acriflavin, appear to induce sterility in the fish hatched from treated eggs.
It is an object of the invention to effectively prevent the growth of fungus on the eggs of a great variety of different fish.
It is another object to effectively kill the fungus without killing the eggs.
It is also an object to provide a method that is not toxic to the adult fish.
It is a further object to provide a method in which the adult fish obtained from treated eggs are fertile.
It is another object to provide a fungicide that is not toxic to aquarium plants and will not inhibit the growth of beneficial algae used by the fry as food.
It is also an object to provide a fungicide that is stable indefinitely and does not significantly alter the pH of the water at effective concentrations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a fungicide that does not stain the glass or sealant of the aquarium and that may be used along with charcoal filtration.